View full sizeSpecial to The Huntsville TimesMadison County Tax Assessor Fran HamiltonHUNTSVILLE, AL - Madison County Tax Assessor Fran Hamilton says she changed her mind about leasing a car for her office that would likely carry a $40,000 plus price sticker if bought off a dealer's lot.

An Internet search with the items called for in the bids found a 2010 Taurus at a local dealership with a $43,840 manufacturer's suggested retail price.

"I rethought it," Hamilton said Wednesday about canceling the bid. "Maybe it wasn't the car I needed for the office. I'll look for something more economical."

Asked if the Taurus turned out to be more expensive than she expected, Hamilton said "maybe."

She said she will take some more time to find a new car.

"I'm just looking at all the possibilities but haven't decided anything," she said. "I'll research it some more."

Hamilton said she looked at several cars because the two-year lease on the Ford Escape she drives is about to end.

She said she liked the Taurus because it was large enough to hold staff members and their luggage for trips to educational seminars. But, she added, she decided the Taurus was "a lot of car" and canceled the bid request.

Hamilton said she didn't have an estimated amount of the lease payments for the Taurus and didn't have an amount budgeted in her office budget.

"I have a discretionary fund to use to lease a vehicle," she said.

Lease payments on the Escape are about $700 a month, she said.

Bids on the Taurus would have been opened Tuesday morning if the bid request had not been canceled.